The Cavalry is Dead

Chapter 10: The Forest of Nightmares Turns Out to Be a Vibe?

Jax wasn't sure what he'd expected the Forest of Nightmares to look like. Dark. Twisting. "Pee-your-pants" scary.

Certainly not like this.

He tipped his head back. Golden apples dangled from the trees. A stone path curved along the forest floor, lined with glass jars that glowed like morning stars. Red and blue flowers speckled the earth, bright as popping candy. It looked more like an orchard, Jax thought, or perhaps a fairytale woodland.

"I hate to say this," Romes said, "but the forest looks... okay?"

Her dark hair was scraped back. She'd changed out of her wet clothes into a pair of form-fitting black trousers, and Jax wrenched his gaze away. He'd been doing that a lot, over the last twelve hours; the siren magic was fading, but he could still feel it. A hot, hungry thing that lived in his stomach.

"I miss my ship," Asa said.

The other boy was staring gloomily at where their ship bobbed in the water. They'd had to leave most of the supplies on board, save for a few backpacks stuffed with tinned food, weapons, and bedding. Romes shrugged.

"You'll get over it," she said.

Asa gave her a look. "Empathetic as always, pipsqueak." He shouldered his bag. "Right. Let's get a move on."

They started into the forest.

The air grew thick and damp as they walked, settling on Jax's shoulders like a blanket. A bead of sweat slid down his back. He wondered briefly if his cousin would have made it this far. But that was a stupid question, Jax thought; of course he would have. Percy would have never fallen prey to the sirens. Percy would have never jumped off the boat or forced his companions to rescue him.

A knot tightened in his chest.

Jax touched Wind-Singer; the sword felt odd and bulky on his back.

Asa charged ahead, barreling down the stone path with single-minded determination. Bibi bounded beside him, pausing occasionally to sniff at a mushroom or roll in a patch of mud. Asa eyed her with distrust.

"I really do hate that pig," Asa muttered.

Jax frowned. "She's done nothing wrong."

"It annoys me," Asa said.

"Everything annoys you."

"You know," Xander said conversationally, "there's a religious group in Southern Banks that worships pegapiglets." He skirted around a loose stone. "They have a festival every May where two hundred pegapiglets are released through the village. The first person to catch one wins a year's supply of cheese."

Asa rolled his eyes. "There's a religious group for everything."

Romes raised an eyebrow. "That's not true."

"Name something," Asa said. "I bet people worship it."

"Sirens," Romes said.

Xander nodded. "There's a group in Pemberthwaites. Their symbol is a green tail. Members tattoo it on to their back."

Her eyebrow inched higher. "Potatoes."

Xander inclined his head. "Spudditers. Very controversial cult."

Romes snapped her fingers, triumphant. "Monsters! Nobody worships those."

"Oh, yes," Xander said, warming to the topic. "There's a cult in Netherton that does. Every month, a holy man is blindfolded and sent through the village with red paint. He marks a door at random during the night, and that family agrees to be sacrificed. The idea is to appease the monsters so that they—"